Trends in Federal Tax Revenues and Rates
Congressional Budget Office Analysis
Over the past 40 years, Federal revenues have ranged from nearly 21 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 to less than 15 percent in FY 2009 and 2010, averaging 18 percent of GDP over that span. Most of the revenues — about 82 percent in 2010 — come from the individual income tax and the payroll taxes used to finance Social Security, Medicare, and the Federal unemployment insurance program. Other sources of revenues include corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes — all together about 13 percent of revenues in 2010 — and…
